Hizen swords were a domain enterprise: the Nabeshima sent Tadayoshi to study under Umetada Myōju around 1596, then built a licensed school around him. Nine generations carried its famously consistent konuka-hada work into the Meiji era.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchSummary This blade was signed by Omi no Kami Tadayoshi(近江守忠吉). Judging from the title given to this swordsmith(Omi no Kami), we believe the 5th-gen Tadayoshi created this blade during the mid-Edo period in Hizen province(today’s Saga prefecture). The 5th-gen Tadayoshi was active during the Kannen-Horeki era(1748-1764). The swordsmith name Tadayoshi lasted 9th generations from the Azuchi Momoyama-Edo period (1572-1868). During the Edo period, they served the Nabeshima clan, who ruled the Saga domain where Hizen province was located. The First Generation Tadayoshi The first-gen Tadayoshi was born and raised in the Saga domain. In 1596, under the domain’s order, he went to Kyoto to learn the sword-forging technique from Umetada Myojyu(埋忠明寿), one of the greatest swordsmiths in the early Edo period. He improved his craftsmanship and returned to the Saga domain two years later (1598). The first head of the Nabeshima clan, Nabeshima Katsushige, appreciated the work of the first-gen Tadayoshi very much. Then, Katsushige appointed him as his Okakaekaji, a swordsmith who exclusively forged swords for a specific domain or clan. And Tadayoshi started to stay near Saga castle, which is the headquarter of the Nabeshima clan. And, he founded Hizen Tadayoshi school, which trained more than 100 swordsmiths during the Edo period. The generation of Tadayoshi served Nabeshima clan by the end of the Edo period. The 5th Generation Tadayoshi The 5th-gen Tadayoshi was born in 1696 as the first son of the fourth-gen Tadayoshi. He received the honorable title Omi no Kami in 1750 (the third year of Kan-En) when he was 55 years old. He first signed Tadahiro as his maker’s name when his father was alive. And, he changed it to Tadayoshi after his father was deceased in 1747. Since this blade was signed with his title Omi no Kami and Tadayoshi, we can easily assume it was created after 1750. He died at the age of 80 and has been high-regarded among Japanese sword collectors for his excellent craft. Hizen Province The swordsmiths in the Hizen province worked under the auspices of the Nabeshima clan like Tadayoshi. They could produce beautiful Jigane-patterned blades, also known as Hizen To, using and mixing carbon steel made in western countries. Hizenkoku had been flourishing by international trading. The geographic location of this domain made it possible to have easy access to western carbon steel. Fuchi-Kashira The Kiri (桐, paulownia) flower and leaves are designed for this Fuchi Kashira. The gold paint is applied to these plants and makes an elegant contrast with the black and gold color. The Kiri pattern is generally composed of three standing straight inflorescences and three leaves. The number of flowers blooming at each inflorescence represents the ranks of this design. The Gosan-no-Kiri (五三の桐) pattern is a popular design that this flower motif is used. This pattern was once used by the imperial family and people in authority at that time. Today, it is permitted to use by ordinary households and is appreciated as their family crests. According to a theory, the Houou (鳳凰, Fenghuang, a kind of sacred beast) rests its wings at the Kiri tree; therefore, some people have regarded the Kiri as a holy plant. Tsuka and Menuki A kind of plant is the motif of this Menuki. We guess it is probably the Tsukushi (土筆, field horsetail). This plant endures the cold winter and comes into buds in the spring. We would say it is one of the seasonal things of spring. It is a plant with strong vitality that repeatedly grows even if it is cut. It has also been popular as a wild vegetable among Japanese people for a long time. It is a design that would make you feel the coming spring. Tsuba and Habaki It looks like this Tsuba’s shape imitates a chrysanthemum flower. Bamboos are beautifully arranged and imitate chrysanthemum petals. Many chrysanthemums are designed inside the diamond-shaped frame. This Tsuba is composed of the poplar motifs for sword mountings. A long time ago, the chrysanthemum was used as a medicine for obtaining a long life, and it was brought to Japan in the Nara period (648-781). Chrysanthemum symbolizes fall, and people have appreciated it very much since ancient times. As its petals form radially, the chrysanthemum has been likened to the sun. That is why this flower pattern is treated as the symbol of perpetual youth and longevity or good health. About the bamboo, this plant grows neatly towards the sky. It is said that this motif represents nobility and strength. In addition, the bamboo breaks straight, but its content is hollow; people have thought it shows innocence. According to a legend, the Houhou eats bamboo fruits; therefore, bamboo has been considered a sacred plant. Also, as it keeps its green color even in cold winter, it is thought the bamboo pattern shows eternity and longevity. Kozuka The Kogatana (小刀, small knife) is stored in the Kozuka. The figures of birds hanging out on the water’s edge are depicted. These birds might be egrets. This bird design has been popular especially for potteries because of its beautiful white feathers and graceful appearance. In this work, you see their elegant atmosphere. Authentication Paper They authenticated the blade on Nov 26th in the 47th year of Showa era(1972). They appraised it as Tokubetsu Kicho Token, an old form of certificate.
Offered by Samurai Museum
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Shinto · Hizen · around 1748-1751
Fujishiro Jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 49%
Shinto · Hizen
105 pieces on the market now
The Hizen school began with a single domain commission. In Keicho 1 (1596) the Nabeshima of Hizen ordered Hashimoto Shinzaemon, the smith who would sign Tadayoshi, up to Kyoto with the carver Munenaga; there he entered the gate of Umetada Myoju and studied forging while Munenaga learned the chisel. The two returned to the province in Keicho 3 (1598), and Tadayoshi settled in the castle town below Saga, where under the domain's patronage the line grew into the dominant sword-making house of Kyushu. His own work runs from Keicho 5 (1600) to his death in Kan'ei 9 (1632); in Genna 10 (1624) he received the court title Musashi Daijo, changed his name to Tadahiro, and shifted his clan name from Minamoto to Fujiwara, so that the late Musashi Daijo blades are the founder under a second name. From him the house became a true generational institution: his son the second-generation Omi Daijo Tadahiro carried it forward as its most prolific hand, the third-generation Mutsu no Kami Tadayoshi returned its highest finish, and a Tosa no Kami branch took the founder's signature when he set it aside. Around this main line grew a circle of disciples and collateral hands, the waki-Hizen or Soba-Hizen smiths, several of them, like Yoshiie and Hironori, working as daisaku substitute makers whose own signed pieces are therefore scarce. The school's signature is its steel. Over a ko-itame forged so tightly it shows no slackness, fine ji-nie gathers in minute particles until the surface takes on the rice-bran konuka-hada (also written komenuka-hada) that no other school produces, fine chikei entering throughout and the ji notably clear and bright.
The orthodox temper laid upon it is a chu-suguha or hiro-suguha, sometimes tinged with a shallow notare and ko-gunome, the nioiguchi deep with finely clustered ko-nie and tightened to a bright clarity, the boshi running straight to a quiet ko-maru. The founder aimed this suguha toward the Rai school yet departed from it, his nioiguchi tighter and his forging carrying more vigor; the third generation refined it to what the published sources call the strongest and most precise hand of the first three generations. Against that calm register the house also worked a showier one, the Hizen choji-midare mixing gunome, long ashi, kinsuji and sunagashi, a manner the published sources already find more often in the founder's late Musashi Daijo work than in his Tadayoshi years, and one the second generation made his own. The branches pushed further from the suguha standard: Tadakuni of the Ogi domain ran sunagashi more conspicuously than any other Hizen hand and reached toward old Ichimonji in his o-choji; Masahiro and Yukihiro favored a flamboyant long-ashi choji over the calm main line; and the Iyo no Jo Munetsugu line worked apart in the Soshu-den, building a midareba on notare with a pointed togariba and a jihada that tends to stand and tone slightly blackish. A collector seeks Hizen-to first for that steel, and reads it the same way the appraiser does: a bright suguha lying over a clear, tight konuka-hada identifies the school before the signature is consulted, and the quiet ko-maru boshi on the ura-signed tang confirms the main-line practice. Generation and branch are then told within that frame, the third generation's powerful sugata recalling not his father but his grandfather, the waki-Hizen hands set apart by their irregular temper, their sujikai file marks and a sashi-ura signature, the Munetsugu line by its Soshu togari. The main line, made in real numbers across so long a span, reaches the market more readily than any Kamakura master, so a papered example is within reach of a patient collector, while the founder's own work and the finest konuka-suguha of the third generation come to open hands only from time to time. Provenance runs back through the house the school served, blades recorded to Nabeshima Katsushige and Nabeshima Naomoto and passing onward to the Owari Tokugawa, the Satake and the Imperial families; documentary inscriptions sharpen the picture further, a Myoju soemei attesting the founder's discipleship, Umetada carving adding flowers to brocade on his late blades, and the gold-inlaid cutting tests of Yamano Kanjuro and Yamano Ka'emon, rare on Hizen work, naming the edge as well as the hand. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Tadayoshi忠吉 | 1596-1632 | 155 |
| Tadayoshi忠吉 | 1660-1686 | 61 |
| Tadahiro忠廣 | 1633-1693 | 133 |
| Masahiro正廣 | 1624-1655 | 30 |
| Tadakuni忠國 | 1648-1652 | 32 |
Hizen: a domain enterprise
Hizen swords were a domain enterprise: the Nabeshima sent Tadayoshi to study under Umetada Myōju around 1596, then built a licensed school around him. Nine generations carried its famously consistent konuka-hada work into the Meiji era.
This work carries older NBTHK “Kichō”-era papers, which the NBTHK no longer issues and largely disavows today. To confirm the attribution, submission to an official Japanese examination body (such as the NBTHK or NTHK) for modern certification could be considered.
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